It has been confirmed that Bryan Habana will miss out (through injury) on the encounter with the Fijians on Saturday. While this spells at least some misfortune in terms of the experience South Africa will lack, it opens the door for new kid on the Bok-block, Francois Hougaard. Or so we thought… In an unprecedented move SA Rugby, not entirely unlike the Cape Salmon, has preferred to swim upstream – hence the coaches and management team has decided to opt against popular opinion and select Odwa Ndungane instead.

For the purposes of this article, this selection conundrum takes a back seat however. It does however play well into this blogger’s hands as it bears massive resemblance to the tricky path Hougaard has had to endure in his career. More on that a bit later though. No offence to Odwa, but let’s turn our attention to Bryan and Francois, shall we? The platform was firmly set for this pocket rocket (who replaced Habana in the opener against Wales and scored the magnificent, match-winning try) to make the step-up into the Springbok starting XV. Again, let me not digress and rather focus on the comparative analyses I have in mind.

Both Habana and Hougaard (ironically) learnt their trade in Pretoria and honed their skills under the watchful eye of guru extraordinaire, Heyneke Meyer. The similarities between the two men do not stop there, both made their debut at the age of 21 and both played at scrumhalf during their school career. Their playing styles differ quite a bit, where Hougaard has become known as a tenacious, never-say-die game-breaker and Habana the cunning, ever-present opportunist. Hougie (as he is fondly known to his mates) was also not afforded the natural procession to professional rugby that Habana enjoyed.  Bryan went straight from Craven Week for the Lions, to the first XV of RAU, after which he became a regular in the Lions senior side. Of course from there he was earmarked by Heyeneke Meyer as a valuable asset in the formidable Bulls side he was acquiring at the time. Hougaard played first XV for his high school Paul Roos Gymnasium, but was overlooked come Craven Week selection. He then forced his way into the WP /21-side, only to be benched for the majority of his tenure. He fortuitously made an impression on that man Meyer and found himself heading for Jacaranda Town. There he had to fight for a place behind Fourie du Preez and Heinie Adams, but was awarded a start on the wing… the rest is well documented.

When Gerhard van den Heever was seen as the natural replacement for the exiting Habana, Hougaard had to prove his worth all over again – and so he did. Hougaard made the number 11 his own and has afforded coach Frans Ludeke the luxury of having both him and du Preez in the starting XV. So while Habana has struggled to maintain the form that saw him scoop the player of the tournament at the 2007 RWC, 21-year old Hougaard cannot seem to put a foot wrong.

Since his 2009 move to Cape Town, Habana has struggled to string decent performances together. This from a man who rushed to equal Joost van der Westhuysen’s record as the top try scorer in Bok history in only 58 appearances.  Unfortunately the speedster has gone without dotting down for eleven consecutive tests since equalling the record against Italy in June 2010. Initially the Province faithful were elated at the prospect of Habana joining their beloved team, mainly due to the exceptional form he exuded while based in Pretoria. Unfortunately their exuberance was short lived, as the new recruit struggled to make his mark on proceedings at Newlands. Expectations were extraordinarily high, and rightly so, seeing as this man was widely recognized as having the Midas touch.  What was put on display however was lacking in all the aspects which helped put Habana on that pedestal of excellence.

Habana was a mere shadow of the man who raced down the Twickenham left-hand touch line to score against England (with his first touch and on debut) in 2004. What Stormers fans were now seeing did not resemble the player who was selected for the Boks prior to his first season of Super Rugby at the Bulls. People in Cape Town were frustrated and the issue was compounded by the rumours flying around regarding the former King Edward VII School pupil’s lucrative contract at his new union. People were openly criticizing Habana and even calling for his exclusion from the team on occasion, but Allister Coetzee remained loyal to the man he knew could and would still deliver. Although Coetzee, Rassie Erasmus and Peter de Villiers will never openly admit this, they too must wonder if the era of Habana has abruptly ended. Has Bryan succumbed to the Cape Town curse? Has he, like Big Joe van Niekerk, James Small, AJ Venter and countless others come to Table Bay to retire and take in the lovely scenery? It probably was not a conscious decision, but we would be foolish to think it did not cross their minds during contract negotiations.

Habana is a truly gifted rugby player and his track record is nothing short of spectacular, but a team should be selected on CURRENT form and not on past accomplishments. Players do not select themselves though and the coaches should step-up and take charge of proceedings. If we manage to remove emotion and the fear of a lack of experience from the equation, the deserved players WILL be representing our country. The Lambies, Aplons, Bismarcks, Albertses and Hougaards of the world will start matches, prove their worth and give as good as they get.

They are young, hungry and capable – just a pity the selectors and coaches are not!

A. Waldeck

Pic: espnscrum.com